Page 167 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Scotland

THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS  165

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
Hermaness
National Nature Reserve Haroldswick
Unst
0 km 15 Baltasound Practical Information
Cullivoe Shetland. * 23,000. n Lerwick
0 miles 15 Belmont
Sellafirth (01595) 693434. _ Up Helly Aa
Isbister Fetlar (Jan). ∑ shetland.org
Ronas Hill Houbie
454m Yell Transport
Esha Ness Ulsta ~ g from Aberdeen and
Stenness Mossbank Stromness on Mainland Orkney.
Brae Out Skerries
Muckle Roe Vidlin Whalsay
Papa Stour Voe Symbister
Garth or the snowy owl. Unst has the
Walls Mainland most varied scenery and the
Easter Skeld Lerwick richest flora and fauna, plus an
Noss
Foula Ham Scalloway Bressay excellent visitor centre at the
West Burra Hermaness National Nature
Reserve. Beyond the lighthouse
Sandwick Mousa Broch
of Muckle Flugga is Out Stack,
Scousburgh Britain’s most northerly point.
Shetland
Jarlshof Sumburgh Islands West of Mainland, Foula has
dramatic sea cliffs, while Fair
Isle, midway between Orkney
and Shetland, is owned by the
National Trust for Scotland.
N o r t h S e a
Aberdeen
O Hermaness National Nature
Edinburgh Reserve
Glasgow Tel (01595) 693345. Open daily
Fair Isle (Visitor Centre: Apr–Sep).
Stoneybreck ∑ nnr-scotland.org.uk
Key spectacular natural scenery, Day Trips to Remote Islands
notably the red granite cliffs and There are regular internal flights in
Minor road
blow-holes at Esha Ness, from Shetland to Fair Isle, Foula and
Summit where you can see the wave- Papa Stour, as well as inter-island
gnawed stacks of The Drongs ferries. Most routes depart from
and a huge rock arch called Tingwall, on Central Mainland.
Dore Holm. Offshore, the island
North Mainland of Papa Stour has further startling
North of Lerwick, Shetland rises formations of volcanic rock.
to its highest point at Ronas Hill
(454 m/1,475 ft) amid tracts of Outlying Islands
bleak, empty moorland. The The northern isles of Yell, Fetlar
sheltered sea loch of Sullom and Unst have regular, though
Voe is dominated by the jetties weather-dependent, boat
and support buildings of connections to Mainland. Yell
Europe’s biggest oil and gas has a large otter population,
terminal. The west coast has and on Fetlar there’s a chance of
glimpsing rare migrant birds, An inquisitive otter, one of a large
like the red-necked phalarope population on the island of Yell
Birds on Orkney and Shetland
Millions of migrant and local birds can be
admired on these islands. Over 20 species
of seabirds regularly breed here, and over
340 different species have been recorded
passing through Fair Isle, one of the world’s
great staging posts. Inaccessible cliffs provide Puffin
excellent security at vulnerable nesting times for
huge colonies of gannets, guillemots, puffins,
kittiwakes, fulmars and razorbills. Species found here but in very few
other UK locations include great skuas and storm petrels.
The red granite cliffs of Esha Ness,
North Mainland
For additional map symbols see back flap
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